Gayus to Receive Holiday Sentence Reduction

Twenty-seven graft convicts, including Gayus Tambunan, will receive sentence cuts this Independence Day, the West Java chapter of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights announced on Wednesday, in an apparent about face from a moratorium on sentence cuts for corruption convicts issued less than a year ago.

“We still use the 2006 governmental decree,” Sihabuddin, director general of corrections at the ministry, said on Wednesday, referring to a decree that allows all convicts to get sentence cut regardless of their crimes.

He said the sentence cut, including for the graft convicts, had been approved by Justice Minister Amir Syamsuddin.

However, another official still remains unsure on the sentence cut for Gayus

“As far as I know, the moratorium is valid,” ministry spokesman Goncang Raharjo said. “I haven’t been informed about the Gayus sentence cut.”

Gayus is currently serving a 30-year sentence for accepting more than $7 million in bribes while working as a tax official. He will be handed a four-month sentence cut for Independence Day and Idul Fitri, said Dedi Sutardi, head of corrections at the West Java branch of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

So will Puguh Wirawan, who is serving three and a half years for bribing a judge to overvalue his client’s assets by Rp 10 billion ($1 million) during a bankruptcy proceeding.

“In total, there are 27 graft convicts in Sukamiskin prison that will get their sentences cut,” Dedi said.

The list includes convicted murderer Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto. The former Garuda Indonesia pilot will receive a five-month sentence reduction.

Pollycarpus was sentenced to 20 years after being found guilty of fatally spiking the drink of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib with arsenic on a flight to Singapore.

Officials at the prison said that Pollycarpus has helped staff with religious and education programs.